John Saul by Guardian

Author:Guardian [Guardian]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Horror, General, Fiction, Psychological, Divorced Women, Action & Adventure, Romance, Suspense, Idaho
ISBN: 9780449223048
Publisher: Fawcett
Published: 1993-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Rick Martin was just about to let the dog out for the last time that night when the scanner in the kitchen came alive and he heard the dispatcher’s voice from the sheriff’s department in Challis, the county seat. “Unit 72–Sugarloaf, I have a report of a missing child at El Monte Ranch, end of Coyote Creek Road. Please investigate.” Her voice changed, shifting out of its impersonally official mode. “Tony, what’s going on up there? First a DOA and a critical injury, now this!”

His dog forgotten, Rick Martin hurried into the den of the little house on Pocatello Drive that he and Gillie had bought five years earlier, and switched on his radio. “Dispatch, this is Unit 71-Sugarloaf. I’ll take the missing child myself. Seventy-two, are you copying?”

“I’m already on my way, Rick,” Tony Moleno replied. “Any idea what’s going on?”

“I know I don’t like it,” Martin told him, remembering the strange lab report indicating that some unknown creature was prowling in the mountains above the valley, but unwilling to talk about it over the airwaves. “Call Frank Peters and have him bring his hounds up. Do we know who’s missing?”

“Joseph Wilkenson,” the dispatcher replied. “Age thirteen, about five feet tall, brown hair—”

“I know what Joey looks like,” Martin cut in. “We all do. I’ll see you up there, Tony. Seventy-one-Sugarloaf, standing by.”

Gillie followed him into the bedroom as he began changing back into his uniform, pulling on a pair of long johns before donning his pants and shirt. “I’m coming with you,” she announced in a tone that said she would brook no opposition. Still, Rick felt constrained to try.

“What’s the point? This could be a long night, and there’s no point in your—”

“Sitting up, waiting to hear what’s happening?” Gillie finished for him. “Thanks, but no thanks. At least if I’m up at El Monte, I’ll know what’s happening. Besides, I can give MaryAnne Carpenter a hand. If she’s going to have a search party headquartered there, she’s going to need all the help she can get.” While Rick finished dressing, she went to the kitchen, found an empty shopping bag, and started filling it with provisions: the searchers would need sustenance. By the time Rick was ready to go, she already had her jacket on.

“King! Outside!” Rick ordered, opening the back door. The big police dog that had been stretched out in front of the kitchen sink, warily watching the goings-on, pricked up his ears. His tail high, he bounded out the back door, but a moment later his tail drooped when neither Rick nor Gillie let him into the black-and-white Jeep. Not bothering with lights or siren, Rick sped away from the house, switching on the radio and picking up its microphone with one hand as he spun the car onto Main Street with the other.

“Will you slow down?” Gillie complained, though she knew it would do no good. “How can you help out with Joey if you wreck the car before we even

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